


New Everything

by StephaniD



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Gen, High School, Hijinks & Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephaniD/pseuds/StephaniD
Summary: Ziyal's a freshman in a new school, making new friends, with a new house, new last name, and new mom. If that wasn't hard enough, her mom's the vice principal.(I'm writing my first ever HSAU at 28 years old because I saw a post listing the DS9 main cast as high school teachers. Eventual KiraDax, I can't not write KiraDax, but the focus is on Ziyal. Title may change. Trying to update Saturgays.)
Relationships: Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys, Kira Nerys & Tora Ziyal
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> AU where a teacher can afford a 2 bedroom apartment and to adopt a kid (and be approved for adoption as a single parent).

“Do you want me to drive you, or do you want to take the bus?” Ziyal’s mom had asked the night before the first day of high school. Months after officially being adopted, Ziyal still hadn’t decided what to call her mom. Miss Kira was too distant, but Mom was too much, even though they loved each other, so Nerys? Ziyal thought of her as Nerys, but didn't say it out loud yet. Nerys had assured Ziyal that anything was fine. She had already given Ziyal a tour of the school, walked the routes between her classes, so Ziyal opted for the bus for the first day. She spent the entire ride in the window seat, backpack on her lap, smiling at kids as they got on. Nobody sat with her, they already knew friends from the neighborhood and sat with them. 

Ziyal didn’t have anyone to talk to in the halls, but didn’t want to get to her homeroom half an hour before she had to be there, so she headed to the library. 

“Morning.” A brown haired woman smiled from behind the desk. “I’m Miss Dax, the librarian. I haven’t seen you here before. Freshman?” She asked, Ziyal nodded. “Looking for anything in particular?” 

“Not really.” Ziyal shrugged. “Art books?” 

“Sure.” Miss Dax led her through the nonfiction stacks to books so tall they didn’t fit on the shelves properly and had to be shelved spine-up, or even laying on their backs. 

“Thanks.” Ziyal smiled. 

“Happy to help.” 

“There’s a warning bell before homeroom, right?” Ziyal checked. 

“Yup, you’ll have 5 minutes after that bell.” Miss Dax confirmed. Ziyal started looking at the books and Miss Dax left. 

The warning bell rang and Ziyal took the 3 books she’d set aside to the desk. 

“Is it too early to check these out?” She asked Miss Dax. 

“Not at all, but are you sure you want to carry them around all day? They won’t fit in a locker or under a chair.” Miss Dax pointed out. Ziyal frowned, the librarian had a point. “I guarantee no one else is going to want to check those books out today, you could stop in after your classes.” She suggested. 

“I don’t want to miss my bus.” Ziyal explained. 

“I’ll write you a pass for afternoon homeroom.” Miss Dax smiled. 

“That would be great.” Ziyal grinned. 

“Just need your name.” 

“Ziyal, um, Kira.” Ziyal slid her school ID over the desk. Miss Dax smiled knowingly, but didn’t say anything as she filled in the blank lines on a blue slip of paper. How many of the faculty knew that the Vice Principal had adopted a teenage daughter over the summer? 

“Trade you.” Miss Dax smiled, holding out the paper. 

“Thank you.” Ziyal put her books down and took the paper, walking quickly to her homeroom. 

“You’re supposed to be in homeroom A-132 with Miss Leeta, right?” The woman asked, Ziyal nodded. Most of the seats were taken, Miss Leeta pointed her to one that only had a planner on the desk with the school’s mascot emblazoned on the front. Ziyal noticed that everyone had the same planner. A minute later the bell rang and Miss Leeta shut the door. 

“Alright, welcome to homeroom, I’m Miss Leeta, the French teacher. If you’re taking another language, I promise I won’t hold it against you.” A few weak chuckles from the class. “I have to take attendance, just let me know if I mess up your name or you want to be called something else.” Ziyal checked her library pass while waiting. It had her name, the date, where she wanted to go (the library), the reason (to check out books), and Miss Dax’s signature. 

“Kira, Ziyal?” Miss Leeta said. 

“Here.” Ziyal replied, a little proud that she had answered promptly and confidently. Until every kid in homeroom turned to look at her. 

“Kira like Miss Kira, the Vice Principal?” The guy beside her asked. 

"Yeah, that's my mom." Ziyal nodded. 

“I didn’t even know she had a kid.” The guy replied. Ziyal shrugged and pretended to be very interested in her new planner. Miss Leeta clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. 

“I know you’re excited to meet new people and make friends, but unfortunately I need to finish attendance.” 

Ziyal got the same reaction in every class. Everyone was curious about the daughter of the VP, but nobody actually wanted to get to know her. Ziyal found out through various boring ‘getting to know you’ exercises that her new mom was even stricter at school than at home. If you got called to her office, you were In For It. Ziyal could barely believe these kids were bad enough to get Nerys that mad. Though you had to do something pretty bad to have to talk to the VP. 

Ziyal showed her afternoon homeroom pass to Miss Leeta, who marked her on the attendance chart and told her to have a good time. Ziyal spent the time cross-legged on the floor in the stacks, and ended up finding 2 more art books to check out. Miss Dax laughed and jokingly warned her she’d end up with nothing left to read by the end of the year when she checked out the 5 large books. On the bus home a girl sat in the seat next to her, but just asked if the seat was taken, then turned her back to Ziyal to talk to her own friends. 

“Hey Ziyal.” Nerys called as she opened the front door. 

“Hey.” Ziyal went to sit on the couch and talk to her mom. 

“So, how was it?” Nerys put her stuff down and sat next to her. Ziyal shrugged. 

“I met Miss Dax, I like her. I checked out 5 books from the library.” 

“I thought you’d like her.” Nerys smiled. 

“None of the teachers mentioned me being your daughter, but the kids did.” 

“Did they tell you I’m a terrible monster?” Nerys chuckled. 

“Pretty much.” Ziyal leaned over to rest her head on her mom’s shoulder. “My day was boring, how was your day?” 

“Also boring. Lots of meetings about what’s changed from last year to this year, introducing new staff, that sort of thing.” 

“Ew.” Ziyal commented. 

“Yeah. But then I got to sit at my desk and look at that picture of us in the courthouse-” 

“Noooo it’s on your desk?” Ziyal gasped, her mom laughed. 

“It’s a very nice picture of us, and no students are going to see it.” She assured. 

“We have so many better selfies!” Ziyal protested. Pictures where they weren’t posed and awkward. 

“Oh, I can put those on my desk too?” Nerys grinned. 

“You’re awful.” Ziyal couldn’t keep the smile from her face. 

“Yup, I’m your awful mom. How do you feel about tacos tonight?” 

“Sure.” 

“Got any homework?” 

“It’s all super easy.” Ziyal dismissed. 

“Then you can get it over with super quickly.” Nerys replied, Ziyal groaned and shuffled back to her room. 


	2. Day 2

The second day of school at lunch a tall black guy and short white guy asked Ziyal if they could sit with her. 

“Why?” Ziyal frowned. This felt like a set up to something, a fake date or prank or something. 

“No one else is sitting with you.” The shorter guy said. 

“I’m not some Buddy Bench pity friend.” Ziyal replied. 

“You have to let people get to know you if you want to be friends with them.” The taller guy pointed out. “Besides, we have something in common. You’re Ziyal Kira, right? The VP’s kid? My dad’s the principal. His dad’s the science teacher.” 

“Okay.” Ziyal let them sit with her. 

“I’m Jake.” 

“I’m Nog.” 

“Do kids here really not want to be my friend because of who my mom is?” Ziyal asked. 

“Unfortunately, yeah.” Jake sighed. 

“High school kids are idiots.” Nog nodded. 

“You’re a high school kid.” Jake nudged his friend. 

“When did I ever say I’m not an idiot?” Nog grinned, the other two chuckled. 

“We have other friends,” Jake assured Ziyal, “it just took some time, and we know how much it sucks at first, to just be known as the kid of a teacher.” 

“What grade are you in?” Ziyal asked. 

“Sophomore.” Jake replied. 

“Junior.” Nog said at the same time. 

“Oh cool, do you drive?” She asked Nog. 

“I’m working on it. Once I get my license my dad’s going to help me buy a car.” He grinned proudly. 

“Do you have a job?” 

“I’ve been doing odd jobs around my neighborhood for years, and helping my uncle out at his bar.” 

“His sketchy dive bar.” Jake added. “My dad’s driven Nog there a couple times and wouldn’t even let me go in.” 

“You are underage.” Ziyal pointed out. 

“Yeah but he also said it’s a sketchy dive bar, and he doesn’t want me thinking of going in even when I’m old enough, and if Nog needs to leave early he can call my dad.” Jake added. 

“Your dad worries too much, I only work in the back, never with customers.” Nog dismissed. Jake didn’t reply, and Ziyal didn’t know how to react. 

“So, what do you do for fun?” Jake asked Ziyal after the awkward silence descended. 

“Drawing, mostly.” Ziyal shrugged. “I’ve been doing still lifes for years. I wish I could test out of Art 1 or something.” 

“Why would you want to draw a bowl of fruit?” Nog asked. 

“It’s not just a bowl of fruit.” Jake rolled his eyes. 

“What, there’s some deeper meaning?” Nog asked, Ziyal snorted. 

“A still life is just anything without a living creature in it.” She explained. “You try to take ordinary stuff and make it interesting.” 

“Like what?” Nog asked. 

“Well, when I was working on fabric folds, I put a teddy bear on my bed looking at me, because a messy bed is more boring than a teddy bear looking at you from a messy bed. The bear makes it easier for a viewer to project a narrative onto the piece.” The awkward silence returned. “Hey, can you tell me about my teachers?” She asked, pulling her schedule out. 

“Your mom didn’t?” Nog asked. 

“No, maybe because she’s not a student.” Ziyal replied. 

“Let’s see.” Jake and Nog looked over her schedule. “Oh, you have homeroom with Miss Leeta, I like her.” Jake smiled. 

“You have a crush on Miss Leeta.” Nog teased. 

“Shut up, everyone does! Technology 1 with Mr. O’Brien is pretty good, it’s mostly making sure you know how to use your laptop, the school website and email, the online databases, not fall for fake information, that sort of thing.” Jake told her, Ziyal nodded. “He also teaches computer science if you’re into stuff like servers, clouds, coding.” Ziyal shook her head. 

“Oh, and you have Gardening 1 with Professor O’Brien, she’s his wife. It’s a super easy class, you just take care of the school gardens.” Nog said. “We already said my dad’s the science teacher, and he…” Nog sighed. “He tries, sometimes too hard.” 

“He’s almost lit the ceiling on fire. Multiple times.” Jake informed her. 

“I think we have gym together.” Nog pulled his own schedule out. “Yup, all 3 of us have gym and lunch together.” 

“Cool. And you have Home Ec with Mr. Garak, we’re pretty sure he’s gay.” Jake continued. 

“‘Cause he’s the home ec teacher?” Ziyal asked. 

“No. You’ll see.” Nog replied. 

That afternoon she had her first gym class, and spotted Jake and Nog milling around in the crowd of students. She decided to go say hi, at least she could stand around awkwardly with them instead of alone. The teacher, Mr. Worf, took attendance and passed out locks and explained how to use them (the codes were taped to the back, and worked the exact same as their regular lockers) and sent them into the locker rooms to claim their lockers. Mr. Worf was a BIG man, Ziyal wasn’t looking forward to their football unit, he’d probably be too into it. He explained how classes would go and let them hang out and talk for the rest of class. Someone took out a football and a bunch of guys started to play catch, Mr. Worf warned them to watch out for others. Ziyal put her bag down by her feet as she talked to Jake and Nog. 

“Hey, uh, can I ask about your parents?” Nog asked during a lull in conversation. 

“Okay.” Ziyal sighed. 

“Oh, nevermind, I’ll shut up.” Nog backtracked. 

“I’ll tell you if I don’t want to tell you, what do you want to know?” Ziyal replied, crossing her arms. 

“Hey, watch out!” Someone called, Ziyal looked up just in time for a guy to run backwards into her. She tripped over her bag and fell backwards, hitting her head hard. He tripped over her and landed on her. 

“Sorry, sorry, are you okay?” He scrambled off her as Mr. Worf ran over. 

“I hit my head. I think I should get an ice pack.” Ziyal replied. 

“I’ll walk her to the nurse.” Jake volunteered immediately. Mr. Worf nodded and went to write them both hall passes. 

“Put that ball away.” He thundered as Nog helped Ziyal stand and Jake hefted Ziyal’s backpack. “If you get dizzy, lightheaded, blurry vision, anything like that, you sit or lie down on the ground, and Mr. Sisko will bring Mr. Bashir to you.” Mr. Worf instructed them. 

“Yes sir.” Ziyal replied. 

“Got it.” Jake nodded. 

They made it to the nurse without incident. Jake put Ziyal’s bag down and said a quick goodbye as she signed in. 

“Hello, what’s your name?” The nurse asked, directing her to a paper covered cot as he grabbed a clipboard and a chair. He had an English accent and Ziyal guessed at least half the school had a crush on him. 

“Ziyal Kira.” 

“Ah, good to meet you, Ziyal. I'm Mr. Bashir.” He smiled. “And what seems to be the problem?” 

“I just need an icepack, maybe 2.” Ziyal replied. 

“What happened?” He asked as he grabbed two packs from the freezer, wrapped them in hand towels and gave them to her. 

“I tripped over my bag in gym, fell backwards.” Ziyal mostly unwrapped the ice pack so there was only one layer of fabric between her and the freezing plastic. Mr. Bashir frowned, but didn’t say anything about it as she held one to her head and one to her shin. He did grab a little flashlight from his desk and kneel in front of her. 

“Can you look at my eyes?” He asked as he shone the light in her eyes. “What were you doing that caused you to trip?” 

“Really?” She asked. 

“Really.” He replied. “I have to write a report on every injury, and I have to be sure you’re thinking clearly since you have a head injury.” 

“Some guys were playing catch and one of them ran backwards to catch the ball and ran into me and we both fell.” She summarized. “And he stepped on my leg.” 

“Alright.” Mr. Bashir put the light away. “And nothing looks blurry or doubled or moving around, anything like that? No dizziness, no lightheadedness?” 

“Nothing like that, I was able to walk here just fine.” She assured. 

“What class did you say this was in?” 

“Gym, with Mr. Worf.” 

“And do you know the young man who walked you here?” 

“That’s Jake Sisko.” Ziyal rolled her eyes. She was fine, she clearly didn’t hurt her brain. Mr. Bashir nodded. 

“Now I need you to take the ice pack off your leg for a moment while I make sure it’s not broken.” 

“I walked here.” Ziyal replied. 

“People can walk on broken bones.” He informed her as he knelt on the floor again. 

“Ouch.” She replied. 

“Indeed. Can you put your foot in my hand please?” She did. “And can you point and flex your foot?” She did. He pressed his fingers along her shin, she frowned but it didn’t hurt enough to make her say anything. 

“Alright, probably a bruise at the worst.” Mr. Bashir declared, putting her foot back on the floor and standing. “Unfortunately the ice packs and towels aren’t supposed to leave this room, too many people forget to bring them back, but you’re welcome to stay here as long as you feel is necessary.” He informed her. 

“Can I have some ibuprofen?” Ziyal asked. 

“I have to check if you have permission first.” He said apologetically and went to his computer. 

“I’m sure my mom filled out all the paperwork.” Ziyal replied, there was 0 chance her mom had left school paperwork unfilled. 

“Still have to check. And yes, I am allowed to give you ibuprofen.” He gave her 2 pills and a little cup of water. “It’s 2 o'clock now, so you shouldn’t take any more until 6 pm at the earliest.” 

“Thanks. I’m going to lay down until it kicks in.” 

“I’m going to check on you every 10 minutes, and I can send a message to your next teacher that you may be late for class.” 

“I don’t know who that is, let me check my schedule.” She grabbed her bag. 

“Ziyal, how many fingers am I holding up?” Mr. Bashir asked, giving her the peace sign. 

“It’s the second day of school and I’m a freshman, I’m not brain damaged, I just don’t have my schedule memorized yet.” 

“How many fingers?” He repeated. 

“Two.” She sighed and grabbed her schedule from her bag. “Next I have Gardening with Professor O’Brien.” 

“I’ll let her know you may be late.” Mr. Bashir nodded. 

“Can you tell my mom I’m here, too? I think she should know.” 

“Certainly.” He nodded. Ziyal lay down on the cot, trying to get somewhat comfortable while holding an ice pack to the back of her head and one to her shin. 

“Ziyal?” Nerys asked. 

“I’m awake.” She sat up. “I figured you should know I hit my head.” 

“How do you feel aside from that?” 

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.” 

“Why do you have an ice pack on your leg?” Her mom asked. Ziyal sighed. 

“Some guys in gym were playing catch while everyone was just hanging out, and one of them ran backwards to catch the ball, and he ran into me, and we both fell, and he stepped on my leg.” She summarized again. 

“And you’re not going to need crutches to get to class? No concussion?” 

“Mr. Bashir would have told you if any of that stuff happened.” 

“Okay. If you want to get a ride home you can come to my office after homeroom. I expect you back to class when you feel well enough, no sleeping here the rest of the day.” 

“I know, I will. I mean, about class. I need to think about the bus.” Ziyal replied. 

“Okay. I love you, Ziyal.” 

“I love you too.” Ziyal mumbled, her mom smiled. 

“Feel better soon.” Nerys rubbed Ziyal’s shoulder and left. 

Ziyal felt okay soon enough to go to the school garden and meet Professor O’Brien, who showed her the plots of soil inside and outside and explained that the vegetables they grow are used for school lunches. 

That afternoon in homeroom Ziyal checked her school email to find one from Counselor E. Tigan (they/them). The counselor wanted her to make an appointment. Confused and a little concerned, Ziyal signed up for morning homeroom the next day. When the bell rang she went to her mom’s office and did homework there until they drove home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to update Saturdays! I'm currently working on chapter 5 :)


	3. Halloween Fun

Wednesday morning Ziyal showed Miss Leeta her appointment email on her phone before homeroom and went to go wait for the counselor outside their office. 

“Ziyal?” A short person with long dark hair asked. “Hi, I’m Counselor Tigan, I use they them pronouns. Are you cool with a handshake?” They greeted with a smile. 

“Sure. Um. I’m she?” Ziyal replied hesitantly as she shook the counselor’s hand. 

“Good to know. Please come in.” Ziyal sat in the counselor’s office. 

“Did you want to talk to me because I’m adopted?” Ziyal asked as Counselor Tigan shut the door. 

“There are many reasons I might ask a student to make an appointment.” Tigan replied. “Though I can tell you that in your case, it’s mostly because you’re new to the area. I know that being the new kid is tough, not having anyone that you know-” 

“Miss Tigan, I’m fine.” Ziyal interrupted. “Um, wait, sorry, not miss.” She realized. 

“You can just call me Tigan.” 

“I’m fine, I already met a couple guys who want to be my friends, and I’m sure I’ll make friends in art class. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m making friends, I love my mom, it’s all good.” 

“That’s very good to hear.” Tigan smiled. “I promise Ziyal, I only wanted to meet you just in case you wanted to talk to me about anything, now or further into the school year. If there’s nothing you’d like to discuss, I can write you a hall pass back to homeroom.” 

“Um, can I ask a personal question?” Ziyal asked. 

“You can ask, no guarantees on an answer.” Tigan smiled. 

“How old are you? You look like you could be a senior.” 

“I’m actually in my mid-20s, believe it or not.” Tigan chuckled. “Is that everything you wanted to discuss?” 

“Yeah.” Ziyal nodded. 

* * *

Within a few weeks, signs went up around the school about the Halloween party (not actually on Halloween). 

"Don't go." Nog advised when Ziyal brought it up. "It's super boring. All the music is pg-13, there's no masks or bloody props allowed, they keep the lights on…" 

"Our parents will probably have to chaperone, though," Jake continued, "we could hang out. If you want." 

“Sure.” Ziyal nodded. “Costumes?” 

“Yeah.” Nog grinned. 

“Absolutely.” Jake nodded. 

"Do people wear costumes to school in high school?" 

"Lots of freshmen and sophomores do." Nog replied. 

“Here, what do you think of this?” Ziyal showed them a sketch she’d been working on for a few days, a woman in a tattered purple robe with a jack-o-lantern head and ragged witch hat. 

“Do it.” Nog smiled. 

“I kind of feel like she needs a prop?” Jake added. 

“I can’t decide what though.” Ziyal sighed. 

“So just go to the halloween store and look around.” Jake suggested. It was worth a shot. 

“Jake, Nog, and I were talking about the school Halloween party,” Ziyal started over dinner, “and we’d rather hang out, just the three of us?” 

“Where would you be hanging out?” Her mom asked. 

“I dunno, probably someone’s house.” Ziyal shrugged. 

“They can come here, I’d be alright with that.” 

“Awesome, thanks. I was also thinking about a Halloween costume?” 

“What were you thinking?” 

“Let me show you.” Ziyal grabbed her sketch from her backpack. Her mom nodded. 

“Long purple dress, orange and black face paint, black hat, we can certainly get that.” 

“It’s supposed to be a mask.” Ziyal explained. 

“No masks.” Her mom shook her head. 

“What, why?” 

“I don’t want you wearing anything that obscures your vision, especially at night.” 

“But I’m the one whose vision is going to be obscured, shouldn’t it be my decision?” Ziyal pointed out. 

“No.” 

“What if I don’t get a mask that covers my head,” Ziyal tried to compromise, “just one that goes in front of my face?” 

“No masks.” Her mom repeated. “I’m sure you’ll do great with face paint. We can go get it all this weekend, so you have time to practice.” 

"Can I also get black tights and boots?" 

"Okay, but we're not getting that at the Halloween store. If you're getting new shoes, you're getting shoes you can wear more than 3 times." 

"Okay." Ziyal smiled. 

At the halloween store Ziyal found a jack-o-lantern mask and held it up to her mom, making her eyes as wide as she could. Nerys just crossed her arms, and Ziyal put it back. Nothing on the wall of props really stood out to her, so she decided not to get anything. When they got home Ziyal took her face paint into the bathroom to practice in the mirror. She covered her face in orange and tried to draw curvature lines from her forehead and chin. It looked bad and smeared, but Ziyal did the jack-o-lantern face as best she could. It sucked. Her head was too narrow to be a pumpkin, and the lines made her look like a bad attempt at a tiger or something. 

“This is stupid, I look stupid.” She told her mom, standing in the doorway to her bedroom. 

“I think you look very cute.”  


“I’m not supposed to be cute, I’m supposed to be creepy.” Ziyal sighed. 

“Maybe you can find a video online or something.” Nerys suggested. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Point made, Ziyal went to wash her face. 

At the shoe store Ziyal found the perfect black witchy boots, with a big heel to make her taller. She tried them on and walked over to her mom, wobbling a little since they were so different from sneakers. 

"No." Her mom shook her head. 

"I just have to get used to them, break them in." 

"No." 

"Why?" Ziyal tried not to whine. 

"Heels are bad for your legs and back, especially while you're still growing." Her mom replied. 

"You wear heels." Ziyal argued. 

"Nothing that tall, and I'm done growing." Nerys pulled a card out of her wallet and handed it to Ziyal. It was a movie theater rewards card. "If the heel is taller than the short side of that card, you're not getting those shoes." 

"The long side? Please? It's only a little bit taller!" 

"Do you want to get Halloween boots?" Her mom asked. 

"Fine." Ziyal huffed and took the boots off, trudging back to put them away. She tried on a few more pairs and found ones she liked. 

“They fit alright?” Her mom checked. “No pinching or rubbing?” 

“They fit right.” She nodded. Her mom put the shoes on a nearby table and held her credit card up to the heel. The back of the heel stuck out over the top of the credit card. 

“Nope. Too tall.” 

“But most of the heel is short enough!” Ziyal protested. 

“Do not argue semantics, I’m the one paying.” 

“There’s no other good witchy boots in my size!” 

“Then we’ll look somewhere else, it’s okay, we’ve got a couple weeks.” Her mom said softly. 

“I guess.” Ziyal muttered. 

Monday morning at school Ziyal entered the library to find Miss Dax had made Halloween-themed displays. She circled the nonfiction display, and checked out 2 books about face paint and 1 about mask making. Miss Dax wished her luck and said she hoped to see pictures of Ziyal’s costume if Ziyal didn’t go to the staff Halloween party. 

“Today at school I got some face paint books and Miss Dax mentioned a staff Halloween party?” Ziyal asked at dinner. 

“Yeah, it’s an annual event, Ben Sisko hosts it at his house.” Her mom replied. “I didn’t think you’d want to go to a boring grown-up party, especially one with all your teachers.” 

“What’s it like?” Ziyal asked. 

“I’m not sure, I don’t usually go. But we can go if you want.” Her mom offered. 

“I think I’d like that. Are you going to dress up?” 

“Probably not.” 

“But it’s a Halloween party.” Ziyal stated. Nerys shrugged. 

That night, once her mom was asleep, Ziyal grabbed a paper plate from the kitchen, got her art paints out, and painted an orange base coat on it. A paper plate mask was better than no mask, and her mom would never have to know, she’d just wear it to show Jake and Nog. And the book from the library had some good tips she wouldn’t have thought of that she wanted to try out. She put it in her closet to dry and went to sleep. Every afternoon when Ziyal got home from school she’d work on her paper plate mask a little bit, hide it in her closet and get started on her homework before her mom got home, and practice face paint when her homework was done. Her mom had to buy her more face paint since she used it all up practicing. They had to go to a few different shoe stores, but they eventually found boots Ziyal and her mom could agree on. 

The evening of the school Halloween party Ziyal put on her costume and face paint after dinner, let her mom take pictures, and hugged her goodbye. It was weird being the one staying home. She got out her paper plate mask to take selfies in the mirror. The mask did cut down on what she could see, which made selfies harder, but it was worth it. She put her mask down and ran to the door when the bell rang. Jake and his dad were there, Jake was dressed like a Frankenstein monster. 

"Hey Ziyal." He greeted. 

"Good to meet you, Ziyal." Principal Sisko grinned. 

"Good to meet you too, Mr. Sisko." Ziyal echoed. 

"Jake said you don't really have a plan for this evening." 

"Nah, we'll probably just hang out and talk, I have some card games, we might walk to the convenience store for snacks." She shrugged. 

"In that case." Principal Sisko pulled his wallet out and gave his son some money. "You all stay safe, okay?" 

"Thanks dad, we will. Good luck with the party." 

"Oh, I'm going to need it." He sighed theatrically. "I'll pick you up around 9:45 or 10. Have fun." He left and Ziyal shut the door. 

"Hey, check this out." Ziyal grabbed her mask and handed it to Jake. 

"Nice. Let me see it all together." He gave it back and waited while Ziyal put it on. "Oh, nice! Here, I'll take a picture, stretch a hand out towards me all threatening." He grinned, taking out his phone. They took pictures of each other in the living room for a few minutes, looking up when the bell rang. Ziyal put her mask under her hat on the couch and answered the door. 

"Hey Nog, hey Mr. Rom." Ziyal greeted. Nog was dressed as a werewolf. 

"I didn't even surprise you?" He asked, taking off his mask and gloves. Ziyal rolled her eyes. 

"I've got to get to the school, you have fun, be safe." Mr. Rom said. 

"You too, dad." Nog replied. Mr. Rom left and Ziyal showed Nog her costume, and they all took more pictures, and sent them to each other. 

"Hey, Ziyal, Jake and I were wondering… You have to promise not to tell your mom." Nog started. Ziyal glanced between the guys suspiciously. 

"What's going on?" 

"Promise not to tell your mom." Nog repeated. 

"Okay, I promise." She crossed her arms. 

"We have a friend Mardah, she's a senior, she has a car." Jake explained. "We're planning to toilet paper the trees out in front of the school while everyone's inside. She's going to come get us in like 15 minutes, and she's cool if you want to join us." 

"Yeah." Ziyal grinned. It wasn't like it hurt anyone, and everyone would be inside so they wouldn't get caught. And they were in costume. 

"Awesome, I'll text her that you're in." Jake grinned. Nog gave Ziyal a high five. 

“Mardah’s outside.” Jake alerted them. 

“Shotgun.” Nog grinned as he led the way to the car. Jake shoved his shoulder. “I’m the one learning to drive, I should be up front.” Nog argued. 

“Hey, I’m Ziyal.” Ziyal said as she got in. 

“Hey Ziyal, I’m Mardah.” She was wearing a safari hat and white lab coat. Ziyal had no clue what her costume could be. Wildlife vet?  


“How was getting the toilet paper?” Jake asked. 

“They were suspicious until I got some adult diapers, too, but it's not like they could say anything. I’ll have to return the diapers in a few days.” Mardah laughed. “We have 3 packs of 24 rolls in the trunk, someone do the math.” 

“18 rolls per person.” Nog grinned. “And there’s 4 trees out front, this works out perfectly.” 

They pulled up in front of the school. 

“The lights are all on.” Ziyal noted, she’d expected it to be dark. 

“They leave the outside lights on like, all the time.” Jake dismissed as they unbuckled and got out. “Plus there’s the party inside. Officer Odo is going to have his hands full with kids dancing too close.” He laughed. 

“Is that the police officer’s name? Odo?” Ziyal asked. 

“Yeah, and he’s a huge grump.” Mardah grinned and opened the trunk. 

“Okay, three people get a bag of tp, open it and put 6 in the trunk. Whoever has this close tree, you’ll have to come back to the trunk for your rolls.” Nog instructed. 

“That should probably be Mardah since it’s her car.” Jake noted. Ziyal opened a pack of toilet paper and dumped 6 rolls out before heading to the next tree. She threw one and it hit halfway up the tree, not leaving a trail. Jake showed her how to hold it and throw it so it unraveled. Her next throw was better. 

Faster than Ziyal expected, they were done. Jake had done the best job, the older kids had said it was due to him playing so much baseball. They piled back in the car and drove off, laughing. 

“Good job, little troublemaker!” Mardah reached back to pat Ziyal on the knee, the only place she could reach. 

“I just keep thinking,” Ziyal giggled, “about someone like ‘how dare you waste all that toilet paper, there’s kids in Africa with diarrhea’!” She grinned as the others busted out laughing. 

“Hey, we’ve got time before the party lets out, want to stop by McDonald’s?” Mardah asked. 

“Sure.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Please.” 

The group sat at a table and enjoyed their snacks, Ziyal mostly listened to the others tell funny stories. Mardah dropped them all back at Ziyal's apartment and they hung out until Jake and Nog's dads picked them up. 

"Hey." Ziyal greeted when her mom got home, nervous about what she'd say about the trees. Ziyal hadn't thought about this part when she’d said yes. 

"I am exhausted, I'm going to bed, don’t stay up too late." Nerys sighed. 

"Okay, night." Ziyal texted Nog and Jake that she didn’t think her mom suspected anything, and got 2 thumbs up back. 


	4. Halloween (Not So) Fun

"Get up, get dressed." Ziyal's mom woke her, flipping on her light. 

"Huh?" Ziyal sat up. 

"Come on, we're going to school." 

"But it's Saturday." Wasn't it? Ziyal checked her phone. It was, Saturday at 6am. 

"Phone." Her mom held her hand out. Okay, her mom totally knew who tp’d the trees last night, and Ziyal was totally in trouble. She didn't think she'd ever messed up this badly before. She gave her mom her phone and got dressed. When her mom sat down for breakfast, Ziyal had some too. They didn’t speak until they got to school and Nerys parked in front of the tree Jake had tp’d. 

“Anything you want to tell me?” Nerys asked. 

“It was a dumb idea, but we didn’t hurt anybody!” Ziyal pleaded. 

“Who’s we?” 

“Jake and Nog and their friend Mardah.” Ziyal muttered. 

“I can’t hear you.” Her mom sighed. 

“Jake and Nog and their friend Mardah.” She repeated louder. Her mom sighed and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. 

“Ziyal, do you understand that if you get in big enough trouble, the court can take you away from me?” Nerys asked. 

“What?” Ziyal whispered. “But you adopted me.” 

“They can still send you to juvenile detention.” 

“But we just-” Ziyal started to tear up at how stupid she’d been. Of course the courts were going to look at an adopted kid who got in trouble and assume the worst- 

“Not for this,” her mom soothed, holding her hands, “you’re not going to court over this, but you need to understand me. This stops now.” Nerys stated. Ziyal sniffled and nodded. “You’re grounded for two weeks. That means you can only have your phone between dinner and bedtime, and you’re riding to and from school with me.” 

“Okay.” 

“Once Jake, Nog, and Mardah get here, you’re all going to clean the toilet paper up.” 

“Okay.” Ziyal repeated. Her mom got out of the car, Ziyal took a minute to wipe her face and blow her nose on glove compartment napkins. 

Ziyal stood next to her mom, leaning against her a little bit. They tried to ignore Principal Sisko lecturing Jake in his car when the men pulled up. One of the groundskeepers drove up in a pickup truck/golf cart thing, put a big trash bin on the ground with 4 handles poking out of it, and drove away. 

“You still love me, right?” Ziyal asked quietly. 

“Of course I still love you.” Her mom hugged her tight. “I’m your mom, I never stopped loving you, I will never stop loving you. You made a bad decision, and now you have to fix it, and I’m making sure you learn this lesson because I love you. Okay?” Ziyal sniffled and nodded. “You want to grab some napkins to put in your pocket?” Ziyal sniffled and nodded again. 

Eventually the adults were all done lecturing. 

“Hey.” The teens all greeted dully, shuffling over to the trees, carrying the bin between them. There wasn’t really anything else to say. They’d messed up. They used the grabbing tools to pull damp toilet paper off the trees and put it in the trash bin while their parents stood together talking and sipping coffee. Every so often Ziyal’s thoughts would return to getting taken away from her mom, and she’d have to stop and wipe her face on a napkin before forcefully thinking about grabbing toilet paper off the tree. 

When they got home Ziyal gave Nerys her phone cord so her phone could stay charging in her mom’s room, and after lunch Ziyal got on her laptop and made an appointment with counselor Tigan for morning homeroom on Monday. She also ripped up her paper plate mask and crammed the pieces down to the bottom of her trash can. After dinner when Ziyal got her phone back she had texts from Jake and Nog, which she immediately responded to letting them know the rules of her grounding. They were grounded too, Mardah as well. 

“Hey Ziyal, what’s up?” Tigan asked Monday morning, letting Ziyal into their office. 

“You know about what happened Friday night, right? With the trees?” Ziyal asked. Tigan nodded. “That was me and some friends. And my mom found out and now I’m grounded but she mentioned me getting taken away from her, and it made me really scared and I haven’t really cried about it yet. So I thought maybe I could do that here?” She explained. 

“Okay.” Tigan nodded and passed Ziyal a box of tissues. “Would you prefer I focus on something else?” 

“I don’t, um. I don’t think so.” Ziyal tried to start crying. It didn’t work. 

“Did you want to tell me about what happened?” Tigan asked. 

“We thought it was funny, and it’s not like it hurt anybody, but my mom got really upset and said if I get in trouble the court can take me away from her and send me to juvie and I got really scared-” Ziyal sniffled. 

“It’s a scary thought.” Tigan agreed. 

“And she said this isn’t big enough trouble for that but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Like, we chose each other, but we could just be taken apart and there’s nothing we could do about it-” Ziyal started to cry, saying it out loud was different from just thinking it. Tigan let her cry for a bit and Ziyal was thankful. Eventually she calmed down and wiped her face. 

“Can I tell you why I don’t think that will ever happen?” Tigan asked softly. Ziyal nodded. “I know that your mom fought like hell to be your mom, and she wouldn’t let anyone take you from her without a hell of a fight.” 

“Thanks.” 

Between classes and during lunch, it felt like all anyone was talking about was who tp’d the trees Friday night. In gardening class on Tuesday Professor O’Brien taught them about the ecological damage of trash, and bleached toilet paper especially. Ziyal mostly stared at her shoes and felt awful. Thankfully none of the teachers treated her differently, not even Mr. Rom. 


	5. Staff Party

Ziyal wore her costume and face paint to school on Friday, even though Halloween was Sunday. Most of the kids in her classes got dressed up, and a couple girls complimented her face paint. 

“Remember we have the Halloween party tonight.” Nerys said Saturday morning as Ziyal worked on a drawing. 

“We do?” She looked up, confused. She’d assumed being grounded meant no Halloween party. 

“We RSVP’d yes, everyone’s excited to see us, and I’m not leaving you home alone.” 

“Okay.” 

“I don’t want you wearing face paint.” Her mom added. 

“‘Cause I’m grounded?” She sighed. 

“Mostly I worry it’ll scare the O’Brien’s daughter, she’s only in first grade.” Nerys replied. Ziyal didn’t know they had a daughter, neither one of them ever mentioned a daughter. 

After dinner Ziyal put her costume on, and her mom gave her her phone back before they left the apartment. 

"Is Miss Dax going to be here?" Ziyal asked as they pulled up to the house. "Is everyone going to treat me different?"

"I assume she’ll be here, but people shouldn't be treating you differently, most of them don't know who toilet papered the trees." Her mom answered. 

"They don't?" 

"We didn't tell them who did it, just that the ones that did it cleaned it up, and their parents were notified. They don't know you're grounded.  _ But _ ," she continued, Ziyal's smile froze, "you are still grounded. I don't want you hanging out with Nog and Jake." 

"Like for tonight or like forever?" Ziyal asked. 

"For tonight, but I'd also like to see you make other friends in the future. But that's a conversation for another day." Her mom turned off the car. 

“Thanks for not telling everyone.” 

"Hey, glad you could make it." Principal Sisko grinned when he opened the door. He was dressed as some baseball player. "Come on in." 

"Thanks, Mr. Sisko." 

"Thanks for having us, Ben. I hope you don't mind, I told Ziyal I don't want her hanging out with Jake tonight." Her mom said quietly. 

"I told Jake the same." He replied, matching her volume. 

Ziyal wandered inside, sticking by her mom. It was weird seeing her teachers outside school. Professor O’Brien was dressed as Ms. Frizzle, Mr. O’Brien was all in yellow, she guessed he was supposed to be the Magic School Bus. Professor O’Brien was holding a baby dressed in green, probably the lizard Ziyal couldn’t remember the name of. Mr. O’Brien was talking to a little girl in a butterfly costume, but Ziyal couldn’t remember a butterfly from the old videos. 

“Hey guys.” Nerys grinned. “This must be miss Molly, you’re getting so big!” 

“I’m a butterfly!” Molly announced. 

“Yes, you’re a very pretty butterfly.” Nerys agreed. 

“Hi Ziyal, good to see you.” Professor O’Brien grinned. 

“Hey, cute costumes.” She smiled. 

“Yoshi is so big.” Nerys sighed. 

“9 months, 20 pounds.” Professor O’Brien replied. “Want to hold him?” 

“He won’t fuss?” Nerys asked as she took the baby in her arms. He stared at her and waved his arms as Nerys cooed and smiled at him. 

“Daddy, can I have more juice?” Molly asked. 

“Okay, let’s get you more juice.” Mr. O’Brien smiled at Ziyal as he led his daughter to the kitchen. Ziyal spotted Jake enter in his Frankenstein monster costume and gave a half-hearted wave. 

“Hey Ziyal.” He grinned as he walked over. 

“Jake...” His dad warned. 

“I’m just gonna show Ziyal and Miss Kira around.” He replied innocently. Nerys gave the baby back to his mom. 

Jake led them further into the house. In the kitchen were Mr. O’Brien and his daughter, Mr. Garak not in costume, two types of punch -one labeled alcoholic- and lots of different types of snacks. 

“We have finger foods.” Jake grinned and held up a piece of hot dog that had been made to look like a severed finger. 

“Corn.” Ziyal rolled her eyes. Jake continued the tour. 

“Coats on the bed in the guest room.” He pointed. “Bathroom’s through there. Everyone else is hanging out in the basement.” He tried to make ‘the basement’ sound creepy, like an old movie. 

“Cheese.” Ziyal stated. 

“You want extra cheese or hold the cheese?” He grinned and led them down stairs, ducking under fake cobwebs. 

“Like you could ever be anything but extra cheese.” Ziyal joked. Her mom chuckled. The basement was half-lit, with lots of fake candles around and hanging from the ceiling so they looked like they were floating. There was also loads of fake cobwebs, and folding tables and folding chairs on one side of the room, with a ‘dance floor’ on the other side of the room, which was just a couple of color-changing lights and a smart speaker on a card table playing some Halloween playlist. 

“Hey, good to see you.” Mr. Rom grinned. He was wearing a white lab coat and spiky white wig, Ziyal guessed Einstein costume. Nog was in his werewolf costume, but without the mask and gloves, so he was barely in costume. Ziyal wondered if he felt weird not really being in costume. Mr. Worf had been talking with Mr. Nog, and was also not in costume. Mr. Bashir was in a suit sitting with Miss Dax, who waved them over. Her hair was in 2 braids and she was wearing a black dress. Ziyal wondered if maybe Mr. Bashir had the wrong kind of dress up party in mind. Did they do Halloween in England or wherever he was from? 

“Ziyal, Nerys, hey! I was hoping to see your full costume.” Miss Dax smiled. Ziyal reached for her phone before remembering she only had the pictures Jake had sent her, of her wearing the mask she’d made. 

“My mom has pictures. Sorry I forgot to show you yesterday.” Ziyal looked to her mom, who was already pulling out her phone. 

“She did the face paint entirely on her own, no help from me.” Her mom said as she showed the others her phone. 

“Impressive.” Miss Dax said. 

“Indeed.” Mr. Bashir agreed. 

“Thanks.” Ziyal muttered, tucking her head down. She was glad Miss Dax didn’t ask about her mask. “Speaking of costumes, who are you?” 

“I’m Wednesday Addams.” Miss Dax replied, looking bored, then broke into a grin. 

“Yeah, very convincing.” Nerys chuckled. “Julian?” 

“Double-oh seven.” He replied with a smile. 

“I’m going to go get something to drink.” Nerys said. “Ziyal, do you want to join me?” Ziyal nodded. 

Ziyal watched as her mom got a cup of alcoholic punch. Who was going to drive them home tonight? Nerys looked at her and smiled. 

“It’s okay. We’re going to be here for a few hours, and Ben would take my keys and let us sleep in the guest room if he didn’t think I was safe to drive.” 

“I absolutely would.” Mr. Sisko said as he walked up. Ziyal got a cup of regular punch and a plate of snacks. 

They went back downstairs to find Mr. Garak sitting next to Mr. Bashir. Miss Dax was grinning and leaning back in her chair, watching the men. 

“You think dressing up for Halloween is childish?” Mr. Bashir asked. 

“Now, that’s not what I said.” Mr. Garak replied. “I said that I think it’s admirable that you’ve maintained this boyhood fantasy, and feel comfortable expressing it. It’s good for the children to see.” Ziyal and her mom sat with them, Ziyal was content to eat her snacks and listen to the grown-ups talk. She accidentally grabbed her mom’s cup at one point, and put it down too fast, spilling punch on the table. 

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll get napkins.” She ran upstairs. What if everyone thought she was trying to take a sip of alcoholic punch on purpose? What if her mom thought she was? She cleaned up the mess and sat looking at her plate. 

“Ziyal.” Her mom smiled. “You can try a sip if you want.” Ziyal glanced at the others. Was this some kind of trick? “It’s okay if you don’t want to, but if you want to try it, you can. It’s not illegal for me to let you try a sip.” Her mom explained. Ziyal took the cup and sniffed it, all the adults were smiling at her. Her dad never had alcohol. She tried a sip and her face scrunched up. It tasted bad and made her mouth feel weird. The adults all laughed and her mom rubbed her shoulder. 

“It doesn’t even taste good, why do you drink it?” She asked, reaching for her own punch. 

“If you drink it enough you learn to ignore or even enjoy it.” Mr. Garak replied. No-one explained why you’d even want to, though. 

Eventually Ziyal went to go stand by the speaker, pretending to look at music but actually texting Jake and Nog. 'Do Mr. Bashir and Miss Dax like each other?' They replied that they thought Mr. Bashir and Mr. Garak liked each other, they always got in arguments over nothing, and smiled as they argued. 

“Any ideas for music to play?” Tigan asked from behind, making Ziyal jump. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” They were wearing a black shirt that said ‘this is my human costume’ in orange text. 

“It’s okay. And no, no ideas.” Ziyal shook her head. 

“Dance song? Cupid Shuffle?” Tigan suggested. 

“No. My mom would take video.” 

“So? I’ll dance too. If your mom takes her phone out, pull her onto the dance floor.” Tigan grinned. Ziyal laughed. 

“Okay.” 

Ziyal got the song going and everyone looked towards the dance floor. Tigan watched, smiling, as Ziyal pulled Jake over, who then pulled a laughing Nog over (he quickly stopped laughing). They started singing and dancing along to the song, Ziyal looked up to see her mom filming. She glanced to Tigan, who nodded. Ziyal waved her mom over, but Nerys shook her head. Ziyal ran over and held her hands out. “C’mon, dance, I’ll teach you.” 

“No, no, you have fun.” Her mom shook her head. 

“Please?” She asked. Miss Dax and Mr. Bashir encouraged Nerys. 

“Okay, fine.” A cheer went up from the table and Ziyal pulled her mom over to the dance floor to teach her the easy song. Nog was already teaching his dad. The O’Briens soon joined them, little Molly trying her best to copy the others. When the song ended all the adults cheered and clapped. Jake told the speaker to resume playing the playlist. 

“Good show.” Mr. Garak complimented as they sat down and grabbed their punch. 

“Fabulous.” Miss Dax grinned and toasted them. 

"You wouldn't have been able to dance in those high heeled boots you wanted to get." Nerys told Ziyal, who groaned. She absolutely would have been able to dance if she had gotten used to the boots. 

"Oh, c'mon Nerys, don't make her admit out loud that her mom's right." Mr. Bashir grinned. 

"That's so uncool." Miss Dax agreed. Ziyal frowned. Why did adults always have to make fun of kids like that? 

“And speaking of cool, I bet you know all the words and moves to that song.” Nerys replied. 

“Maybe, maybe not.” Miss Dax shrugged. “I wasn’t invited to dance, you were.” 

“I’ll give you ‘invited to dance’.” Nerys grinned and headed back to the dance floor. A song started playing and the adults all grinned. Miss Dax laughed and headed to the dance floor as well. Tigan joined them, and Mr. Sisko. “Come on, Ziyal, fair’s fair.” Her mom waved her over. “I’ll teach you the Electric Slide.” She sang with the music. Ziyal stood next to her mom, trying to copy and remember all the steps, that seemed to have nothing to do with the music. 

At one point they gathered in the living room for a picture of everyone in costume. Ziyal’s mom gently pushed her forward. The floor creaked and Ziyal worried about it breaking, but Mr. Sisko just waved her over and she figured the faster the picture was taken, the sooner people would spread out. 

“Say cheese.” Mr. Worf monotoned, holding Mr. Sisko’s phone. 

“Can I see, can I see?” Molly O’Brien asked as soon as he lowered the phone. 

“Certainly.” He knelt down to show the girl the photo. 

“Mr. Worf, where’s Alexander?” Molly asked. 

“He is with his grandparents.” 

“How do you know all these dances?” Ziyal asked Tigan, they happened to be getting more punch at the same time. The counselor knew every dance song that had played so far. 

“I studied first.” They replied. 

“You studied all the dances?” Ziyal asked. 

“Yup. Didn’t want to make a fool out of myself.” They explained. Ziyal was confused, how would they make a fool out of themself, everyone else knew each other besides her. “I’m new this year, too.” They added with a smile. "Just moved into my apartment a month before school started." 

"Is being new still scary as a grown-up?" 

"Not as scary, but still a little scary." Tigan nodded. "Mostly I was scared about doing a good job at work, I know making friends will happen." 

“Can I ask how you know my mom fought like hell to adopt me if you didn’t know her before?” Ziyal asked. 

“I know that the adoption system is ridiculously complicated and expensive, your mom had to fight to be your mom.” 

“Ezri, get in here, we’re going to take the no costume picture.” Mr. Sisko called. Tigan rolled their eyes and headed to the living room, straightening their shirt. 

“Excuse you,” they replied, “I am in costume.” Ziyal decided to stay out of the living room, and that discussion. 

Ziyal exited the bathroom to find Professor O’Brien and her son in the living room. 

“Ziyal, could you do me a huge favor and hold Yoshi while I use the bathroom? Miles and Molly are already in the car.” Professor O’Brien asked. 

"Sure." Ziyal propped the baby on her hip. She wasn't the most comfortable with small children, but Professor O'Brien needed her, Yoshi was too young to talk, and it wasn't like Ziyal was babysitting him for hours. 

“Thank you, I’ll be out in just a minute.” Professor O’Brien smiled. As soon as the bathroom door shut Yoshi grabbed Ziyal's dress (and hair). He babbled, staring at Ziyal, leaning forward to put his fist in his mouth while still holding onto her. 

“Hi Yoshi.” She whispered, not wanting to be too loud. He screeched, evidently not having the same worry. “Mommy will be right back.” She murmured. 

“Psst! Ziyal!” Nog whispered. He waved to her to come back downstairs. Ziyal gestured to the baby on her hip. Nog looked back towards the basement, back to Ziyal, then left. Ziyal swayed as they waited. 

"Thank you so much for watching him.” Professor O’Brien said as she picked her son up, untangling Ziyal's hair from his little fist. 

“Happy to help. Um, I better get back downstairs.” 

Ziyal found Nog and Jake crouched in the stairway. “What-” They held their fingers to their lips and pointed out towards the basement. Ziyal could hear slow music playing. She moved down the stairs and peeked out until she could see who was dancing. Mr. Garak had his hands on Mr. Bashir’s hips, who was holding the other man’s shoulders. “They are dating!” She whispered to the boys. They pointed for her to look again. She peered out even farther. She could see the back of Miss Dax, her braids and black dress, swaying and holding someone close. Even in the half-light Ziyal recognized the shirt sleeves and short red hair. Her mom was slow-dancing with the librarian. Ziyal stared at her friends. They all crept upstairs. 

Ziyal sat on the floor, back against the sofa, and stared at her friends on the couch. No-one seemed to know what to say. 

"You know you're not supposed to be hanging out today." Mr. Sisko said when he spotted them a minute later. 

"Miss Kira and Miss Dax are dancing downstairs." Jake replied. "Like, together. Like, slow dancing." Mr. Sisko rubbed his face. 

"Okay. C'mon, boys. Ziyal, I'll get your mom." 

"You don't have to." She didn't want to break them up, and wasn't sure if she wanted her mom to know she saw. 

"She's going to want to talk to you." Mr. Sisko said. Everyone went downstairs. A minute later her mom came up and sat on the sofa, stroking Ziyal's head. 

"Hey honey. Ben said you saw me dancing with Jadzia." She said quietly. Ziyal nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ziyal shrugged and tipped her head back to see her mom. 

"Are you allowed?" 

"Am I allowed to date her?" Nerys asked, Ziyal nodded. "Yes, we're allowed to date. I'm wondering about you, though. Would you be okay if I went on dates, and with someone you see at school a lot?" Ziyal thought about it for a minute. It would be weird seeing Miss Dax at school, knowing she and Nerys kissed, but probably not much weirder than today, seeing everyone at a Halloween party. 

"What if you break up?" Ziyal asked. 

"Well," her mom sighed, "it would suck, and be awkward for a bit, but it happens sometimes in relationships." 

"You really like her? Like, you love her?" 

"Yeah." Her mom smiled. "I've liked her for a while, but I had to be focused on adopting you, and being a good mom." She stroked Ziyal's head again. 

"You are a good mom." Ziyal said, her mom smiled. 

"And you'd be okay if I started dating Jadzia?" 

"I think so." Ziyal nodded. "Wait, do I still call her Miss Dax?" 

"We'll talk about that later." Her mom chuckled. 

"Are Mr. Bashir and Mr. Garak dating?" 

"That's not your concern." 

"We saw them dancing." 

"Their relationship is their business, nobody else's. They don't need students spreading rumors." 

"Okay." 

"Ready to go back downstairs?" Her mom stroked her head again. Go back downstairs and have to see Mr. Bashir and Mr. Garak and Miss Dax, who all knew she had spied on them slow dancing? She didn't know if she'd ever be ready for that. 

"It's gonna be weird." 

"Yeah, it will be." Her mom agreed. 

"Is this punishment for watching you dancing?" 

"Natural consequences." Her mom smiled. Ziyal put her hands over her face and groaned. 'Natural consequences' sounded like something from one of the parenting books on her mom's bookshelf. 

"Can we just go home?" She peeked out between her fingers. 

"We have to at least say goodbye to everyone." Her mom answered. Ziyal groaned again. "You're going to have to deal with awkward situations your whole life. Better to get used to it now." 

"I guess stay here." She sighed. The rest of the party went okay, Ziyal didn't talk much but the adults pretended like nothing had happened. 

"So, we're not supposed to talk about Mr. Garak and Mr. Bashir, but can I talk about it to Jake and Nog since they know?" Ziyal asked as they rode home. 

"I'd prefer you didn't. What if someone else heard you?" 

"What if we text?" 

"Ziyal, you shouldn't really be talking about other people's relationships, especially teachers." 

"Can I talk about your relationship with Miss Dax?" 

"To me and Jadzia, sure." 

"What about Nog and Jake and maybe Tigan?" 

"Nog and Jake don't need to know about my relationship. As for Counselor Tigan, you talk to them about anything you feel like, nobody should be telling you what you should and shouldn't tell them. Speaking of Nog and Jake, I'd really like you to try and make more friends, friends who don't do stuff like toilet paper the school." Ziyal opened her mouth to protest but her mom continued. "I'm not saying you can't be friends with them, I know they're good kids-" 

"But they're dumb boys?" Ziyal guessed. 

"But I'd really like you to have more than two friends." 

"I'll try." Ziyal frowned. Jake and Nog were the ones who had become friends with her, and she was too old to just ask people to be her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Corn" and "cheese" are slang ways to say 'you are/this is so corny/cheesy'.


	6. Awkward

Monday morning when Ziyal's mom went to her office, Ziyal headed to the library. Last week she just hung out in the cafeteria and drew while she waited for kids to show up, so she didn't know when Miss Dax would get there. 

"Hey, Ziyal, you're here early." Miss Dax smiled as she unlocked the door. Ziyal started to put her sketchbook away. "I can't let you in yet, you have to wait about 15 more minutes." 

"Okay." Ziyal nodded and resumed drawing. 

"So," Miss Dax said, opening the library 15 minutes later, "what brings you here so early?" 

"Can we talk? About my mom?" Ziyal asked. Miss Dax led her to a worktable and sat down across from Ziyal, looking at her seriously. Ziyal was going to have to do the talking, but she didn't even really know what to say. "This is weird." She started, looking at her hands. "I want my mom to be happy but it's weird since I see you at school. I've never done this sort of thing before." 

"I've never done this sort of thing before, either." Miss Dax said with a smile and a shrug. "I know that you are your mom's number one priority, but I really like her, and I'd like to try to be part of both your lives, outside school." 

"What happens if you break up?" Ziyal asked. Miss Dax nodded and sighed. 

"That is a possibility, and we would all have tough feelings about it. I would do my very best not to treat you any differently if things don't work out between me and your mom." 

"What would happen at work?" 

"Probably nothing." Miss Dax shrugged. "And our jobs aren't anything you should be worrying about." 

"What should I be worried about?" Ziyal asked. 

"You know, normal stuff, homework, your own crushes, what songs you're going to sing and dance around the house to when I take your mom out on dates." Miss Dax smiled. Ziyal rolled her eyes. 

“We’re in a second floor apartment, I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate singing and dancing.” 

“Regardless, we’re cool, you and me? I have your okay to date your mom?” Miss Dax asked. 

“We’re cool.” Ziyal nodded. 

“Oh, speaking of cool, I wanted to show you!” Ziyal reached for her phone to show Miss Dax the pictures of her pumpkin mask, then remembered her phone was sitting in her mom’s room, charging. “I uh, I left my phone at home. I’ll show you later.” 

“I can’t wait.” Miss Dax grinned. She was going to have to wait a week for Ziyal to not be grounded anymore. Ziyal couldn’t say she accidentally forgot her phone at home for an entire week, she’d have to avoid the library. All week.   


She managed to keep out of sight of the librarian all week, feeling bad about hiding from her, but not wanting to admit she got in trouble and feel bad about that. On Friday Ziyal was heading to her mom’s office after school when she heard Miss Dax over the noise of the hallway. Miss Dax was calling for her. 

“Ziyal!” The librarian waved her over. “Do you have a minute to talk?” Ziyal debated lying and saying she had to catch her bus, but Miss Dax knew Ziyal could just get a ride home with her mom. She nodded and went into the library to talk in private. They sat at a worktable as far away from the other kids as they could. “Ziyal, what’s going on?” Miss Dax asked. “Did you change your mind about being okay with me dating your mom? If you’re not ready, I understand, I won’t date her, but you need to tell us.” 

“It’s not that.” Ziyal shook her head and sighed. “I’ve been grounded so I didn’t have my phone, but I didn’t want to tell you ‘cause I didn’t want you to think I’m the kind of kid that gets grounded.” She admitted. 

“That’s not that big of a deal.” Miss Dax chuckled. “Most kids end up grounded at some point. I got grounded a few times growing up. You had me worried.” 

“Sorry. I’ll have my phone back Monday and I can show you then.” 

“Or you could send me an email if you want.” Miss Dax said. 

“Mr. O’Brien said our school emails are for schoolwork only.” Ziyal replied. 

“That’s because we don’t want every kid in school sending memes and stuff to each other all day. Or sending a meme to everyone in the school.” Ziyal didn’t even know that was possible. The student users really had the capability to send to all users? Why didn’t Mr. O’Brien make that impossible? What would happen if she hit ‘reply all’ to the next announcement email? 

“Maybe.” She said. “If I don’t email you this weekend, I’ll show you the picture on my phone on Monday.” 

“Sounds good.” Miss Dax smiled. “Now I really have to get back to work.” Ziyal turned around to see 4 kids waiting by the desk with books, looking at Miss Dax or their phones. Thankfully none of them seemed upset. 

Ziyal had some time before everyone else left on the late bus and Miss Dax closed the library, so she decided to take advantage of Miss Dax being distracted to look up books on making friends. The library didn’t have anything. A general internet search turned up parenting guides for helping children make friends, but she wasn’t a child. Adding the word ‘teenager’ to her search turned up some stuff, Ziyal saved the links in a draft email. This was so stupid, that she needed help making friends. She didn’t even really want more friends, except maybe a couple of the kids from art class, but her mom wanted her to make more friends since Nog and Jake were ‘bad influences’. 

Saturday night Ziyal got her phone back and Nerys had a date with Miss Dax. Ziyal watched her mom run around, in a red dress that was nicer than what she wore to school. She was dressed almost as nice as when they had gone to court and Nerys had officially adopted Ziyal. 

“You have money for delivery, don’t forget to tip the driver, just tape it to the door.” Her mom said. 

“I know.” Ziyal nodded. 

“Have them leave it on the floor, don’t open the door until they’re gone, lock it again when you close it. Don’t open the door for anyone.” 

“I know.” 

“Call me if you have any problems.” 

“I know.” 

“No friends over.” 

“I know.” 

“No going to the convenience store, we have plenty of snacks here.” 

“I know.” 

"I know I'm being annoying, but this is my first time going on a date as a mom." Nerys hugged her. 

"I know." Ziyal grinned. "I love you. Have fun with Miss Dax." 

"I love you too. So much." Her mom hugged her tight before letting go. They looked up at the ring of the doorbell. Her mom ran to get it. 

"Hey Nerys, you look great." Miss Dax smiled, wearing a purple dress. 

"Thanks, you too." Nerys smiled. 

"Hey Ziyal." 

"Hey Miss Dax." Ziyal stuck her hands in her pockets, not really sure what to do. 

"I promise I'll take good care of your mom." Miss Dax said, Ziyal nodded. Nerys gave her one last hug. 

“I don’t know when I’ll be home. I love you.” 

“Love you too.” Ziyal whispered. 

Ziyal spent the evening playing her music without headphones, drawing on the couch, playing games on her phone, and scrolling social media. She ordered a personal pizza for dinner and got it delivered with no problems. Even though she was in the home she’d shared with Nerys for months, eating dinner alone kind of felt like when her dad would leave her alone for long stretches of time. Ziyal turned her music up. Her mom loved her, and would be home soon, she reminded herself. At 9:30 Ziyal texted her mom ‘you good?’ and went to change into pajamas. 

“Hey.” Nerys called as she opened the door. “Yes, I’m good.” 

“Hey.” Ziyal called back, stumbling in her rush to finish getting dressed and go hug her mom. 

“Hey.” Nerys said softly, hugging Ziyal tight. “You good?” 

“Yeah. Is Miss Dax here?” She peeked over her mom’s shoulder. 

“No, she dropped me off outside. Everything cool here?” 

“Yeah. Did you have fun?” 

“I did.” Her mom grinned. “We went out for coffee and trivia and Jadzia nearly won.” 

Monday morning Ziyal was glad to sleep in and take the bus to school instead of having to get up early and go in with her mom, and she immediately went to the library to show Miss Dax her pictures of her pumpkin mask. 

“You have to promise not to tell my mom.” She told the librarian first. 

“About your Halloween costume?” Miss Dax asked with a smile. 

“Yeah.” Ziyal nodded. “Promise?” 

“Promise.” Miss Dax nodded, then grinned as Ziyal showed her the pictures. “Oh, that’s so good, so wonderfully creepy! I love the shot where you’re reaching for the camera.” 

“Thanks.” Ziyal grinned. “Jake took that one.” 

“Hey, Mr. O’Brien.” She stopped by his desk after class on Monday. “If I look at stuff on the internet at home, can my mom see it?” Ziyal fidgeted as he stared at her. “It’s nothing bad.” She promised. He continued to silently stare at her. “Okay. Bye.” She really hoped he didn’t tell her mom about that. She didn’t want her mom to see her looking at articles of how to make friends and think she was incompetent or something. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realized this week that I forgot to include Kira being religious, so next week's chapter may be late or non-existent since I'm looking for a Jewish sensitivity reader to help me rewrite this fic. If you'd like to be my sensitivity reader, please leave a comment or email me at dolphin64575@yahoo!


	7. A Joke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting on mobile, formatting fixed soon.

Ziyal stared at the email in her inbox, announcing the last football game of the season, please come cheer your team on to victory, blah blah blah. The ‘to’ list was enormous. Would this really work? Should she really do it? She clicked ‘reply all’ and sat back, trying to think of what to say. This email would go to the entire school if she hit ‘send’. Should she send a funny gif or something? No, something that she could argue was just an accident. ‘Cool, thanks.’ She typed. That could arguably be something someone would reply with. She moved the mouse to ‘send’. Did she really want to send ‘cool, thanks’ to the entire school? Could she not think of anything better? She should wait and think about this more. 

After dinner she hit send. An hour later her mom knocked on her open door. 

“So you hit ‘reply all’ on a school announcement email, huh?” 

“Am I in trouble?” Ziyal asked nervously. 

“Did you break a rule?” Her mom replied. 

“I don’t think so?” 

“Then you’re not in trouble.” Her mom smiled and left. What was that about? 

On the bus the next morning Jake texted her. ‘Cool, thanks?’ Ziyal sighed and replied that she thought it would be funny. Jake said it wasn’t. 

“Hey, Ziyal, right?” The guy next to her in homeroom asked, the same kid who had asked if she was the daughter of the VP on the first day. Ziyal nodded. “Why did you hit ‘reply all’?” 

“I thought it would be funny.” She shrugged. He went back to looking at his laptop. 

In her first class that morning the teacher passed out worksheets. 

“Cool, thanks.” The kid said as they accepted them, glancing at Ziyal when they turned around to pass the papers back. Everyone else sitting in the front row did the same. And the second row. And the rest of the class. Did they think she was funny, or were they making fun of her? 

“Hey Ziyal?” One of her classmates asked in art class. 

“Yeah?” She replied, already mentally preparing how to help them with the assignment. 

“Did you mean to ‘reply all’ to that email?” They asked. 

“Yeah. I thought it’d be funny.” She replied flatly. “It wasn’t, I get it.” 

By the next day everyone in all her classes was saying ‘cool, thanks’ when anyone handed them anything, and loads of people were saying it during lunch, and Ziyal was pretty sure they were all making fun of her. 

“Oh, Ziyal, hang back.” Mr. O’Brien said when class let out. Ziyal waited until everyone had left the room to approach his desk. “C’mere, so you can see my screen.” He waved her over. What did he want to show her? He had his email open to the football game announcement. “See down here where you have the little down arrow?” He moved the cursor around the reply dropdown menu. 

“Mr. O’Brien, I know how to reply to an email.” 

“It’s okay, it’s my job to teach you.” Ziyal didn’t want him to think she was rude, so she stood there through his explanation. She’d suspect he was making fun of her too, but he was a teacher. “‘Reply’ means only the person who sent it to you will see what you said, kind of like a text message. Now, ‘reply all’ means that the person who sent this email, AND everyone who got this email will see what you said. Kind of like a group text. ‘Forward’ will send this email to the people you choose. Does that help?” 

“Thanks, Mr. O’Brien. I have to get to my next class.” 

By the third day kids at school were saying ‘cool, thanks’ when the teacher answered their question, in regular conversation, all the time. Ziyal felt sick to her stomach. Thankfully it was Friday and she didn’t have to see anyone all weekend. 

“Hey.” Nerys called as she shut the front door. Ziyal went to the living room. 

“I thought bullying wasn’t tolerated.” She argued. 

“Woah, woah, who’s bullying you, what’s going on?” Her mom asked, dropping her stuff on the ground and taking Ziyal’s hands. Ziyal jerked her hands away. 

“Everyone is! They’re all making fun of me and no-one’s doing anything about it!” 

“Slow down, talk to me, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her mom frowned. 

“Yes you do! You came to talk to me after I sent that stupid email, and you smiled like you knew something! You knew this was going to happen!” 

“What happened? Ziyal, I’m stuck in an office pretty much all day, I don’t know what’s going on in your classes.” 

“Everyone’s saying ‘cool thanks’ all the time, and they’re doing it to make fun of me, they always looked at me after! And at first I thought maybe people thought it was funny, but now everyone’s doing it all the time because they think I’m an idiot who doesn’t know how to send an email!” Ziyal wiped her eyes and her mom held her close. 

“I’m sorry, honey. I smiled at you that evening because I thought you’d get a few annoyed emails back. I didn’t know this would happen.” 

“Well, you have to punish them for bullying me. That’s what ‘zero tolerance’ means.” 

“It’s not that simple.” Her mom sighed. 

“Yes it is.” Ziyal replied. “They’re bullying me, they need to be punished.” 

“I have to be able to prove to their parents that they intended to bully you.” Her mom frowned. 

“What? So they can just say ‘I didn’t mean it’ and not get in trouble?” 

“Pretty much.” Her mom sighed. 

“Then make it against the rules for them to say it!” 

“I can’t just ban a phrase because people are teasing you-” 

“It’s not teasing!” 

“and even if I did, it wouldn’t work.” Her mom continued. “Kids would start saying it even more if I made it against the rules.” 

“So your daughter’s getting bullied and you’re not going to do anything.” Ziyal stormed to her room. 

“Ziyal, I would if I could-” Her mom stopped when Ziyal slammed her door shut. Ziyal curled up on her bed to cry. She made one stupid mistake and now everyone in school was making fun of her, and her teachers thought she was an idiot, and her mom wouldn’t stop it… She texted Jake and Nog. What had Nog said when they met? ‘High schoolers are idiots’. They both replied ‘yeah’. 

When Ziyal calmed down she got on her laptop to make an appointment with Tigan for Monday. Both homeroom slots were already booked. She could miss some class. She wished she could just skip math class, but her mom would probably be mad if she found out. Ziyal booked the last 20 minutes of her art class. It wasn’t like she’d miss anything. 

“Hey Ziyal, what’s up?” Tigan asked as Ziyal shut the door to their office. 

“Everyone’s bullying me and my mom won’t do anything about it!” Ziyal replied. Tigan frowned. 

“That’s not okay. I’ll write up a report, you tell me what happened.” When they said they were ready Ziyal told them about Miss Dax telling her about the ‘reply all’ thing, and deciding to try it out Tuesday night for a joke, and everyone saying it in class Wednesday and looking at her, and Mr. O’Brien explaining how to reply to an email, but she wasn’t sure if he was making fun of her or not, and now everyone saying it all the time, and her mom saying she couldn’t do anything Friday. Ziyal wiped her face on a tissue. 

“It looks like you’re pretty upset, can you name what you're feeling so I can add it to the report?” Tigan asked. Kind of weird, but maybe Ziyal had to prove it was affecting her or something. 

“Mad.” Ziyal said immediately. Obviously she was mad. 

“Mad and what else?” Tigan asked. What else? Ziyal thought. 

“Kinda stupid, but don’t put that.” Ziyal said in a rush. Tigan lifted their hands from the keyboard. 

“Can we talk about that, feeling stupid?” They asked. 

“It was a stupid idea to even hit reply all, I should’ve known everyone would think I was an idiot who didn’t know how to use email, I should’ve known they wouldn’t think I was funny and would make fun of me.” Ziyal grabbed another tissue. 

“So instead of stupid, maybe we can say you feel humiliated?” Tigan suggested. Ziyal shrugged. Was that better than stupid? It didn’t make her feel any better. “Kind of sounds like you wish you could see the future and know how your joke would turn out.” Ziyal shrugged again, everyone would want that. “Okay, let me double check this report and you can read it to make sure everything looks okay before I send it.” Tigan worked on their computer for a minute more. “Your turn, let me know if you want anything changed.” Tigan stood up from their desk and switched places with Ziyal. They played with a Rubik’s cube while she read (and got upset again, seeing it in official words). 

“Looks good.” Ziyal said. 

“Then you can hit send.” Tigan replied. Ziyal did, and took a big shaky breath. “Feel any better?” Tigan asked as they switched spots again. Ziyal shrugged. She didn’t really feel any different. 

“Now obviously it’s going to take time for people to read and respond to this report, if there’s even anything they can do. I think we should work on some things you can do in the meantime to not get so upset.” Tigan said. 

“But I’m the one getting bullied!” Ziyal argued. 

“I know, and it sucks, but you’re the one feeling mad and humiliated, so you’re the one who should have tricks handy to feel a little better.” Tigan explained. Which made sense, as much as Ziyal hated it. Everyone making fun of her thought it was so funny, she was the only one getting upset. It wasn’t like she could make them be upset. 

“Okay.” She sighed. 

“How do you feel about the phrase ‘this too shall pass’?” Tigan asked. Ziyal shrugged. It kind of sounded like it was saying her problems didn’t really matter. “Can you name some old memes for me?” Tigan asked. “Memes nobody uses anymore, they’re not remotely funny.” Ziyal knew what the counselor was doing, but she answered anyway. 

“Um, Alexa play Despacito. Uh, damn Daniel. What are those. Wendy’s Twitter.” 

“And how long did they stick around for?” Tigan asked. 

“Too long.” Ziyal replied flatly. “Months.” 

“I guarantee this won’t continue for months.” 

“What if it does?” Ziyal replied. 

“Then at that point, I suspect it will no longer be funny, and people will just be saying it on reflex to be nice.” Tigan smiled. Ziyal rolled her eyes. She knew the counselor was only like 10 years older than her, and worked with high schoolers all day, how could they be so out-of-touch? “Remember how you wished you could see the future and know if everyone would think your joke is funny?” Tigan asked, Ziyal glared at them. “I’m just saying, you might be wrong here, too.” Tigan shrugged. 

"Bet you 5 bucks it won't be gone in a few months." Ziyal challenged. 

"I'm not allowed to make bets with students." Tigan replied calmly. Ziyal crossed her arms, she just wanted the counselor to admit that high schoolers were stupid and mean and would keep making fun of her for months. “How about this. It’s November now, so December, January, March, if people are still making fun of your email by April Fools Day, I will write you an official apology, and I’ll pay for your lunch in the cafeteria, anything you want.” 

“Even if I want like, nachos and a slushie and a giant cookie?” Ziyal listed the most expensive stuff she could think of. 

“Anything you want.” Tigan repeated with a smile. “Though I think that lunch would give you a stomach ache. Deal?” 

“What’s my part of the deal?” Ziyal asked. 

“I’d say doing your best to stay calm and not react, and keeping me updated on if people stop saying it. Deal?” 

“Deal.” They shook on it and Tigan wrote them both a sticky note reminder. Ziyal stuck it on the first week of April in her planner. At least this way she’d have proof she was right, and get a giant cookie for dealing with it for months. 

“Is there anything else I can help with, or are you ready to go back to class?” Tigan asked. 

“Go back to class, I guess.” Ziyal shrugged. Tigan wrote her a hall pass. She’d spent longer than she thought in the counselor’s office, it was the next class block. Thankfully no-one was waiting outside Tigan’s office. 

Tuesday evening another school-wide announcement email went out, followed by dozens of kids hitting ‘reply all’ to say ‘cool, thanks.’ Ziyal hid in her room to cry, her mom probably considered this ‘natural consequences’ of her ‘bad decision’. 

Wednesday Ziyal got an email from her mom during school, asking her to come to Nerys’ office after school, she wanted to show Ziyal something. Ziyal saw the email during Computer class, after which she stopped by Mr. O’Briens desk to apologize. 

“What are you sorry for?” He asked, confused. 

“Everyone hitting ‘reply all’ on the school emails now. I’m the one that started it.” She couldn’t look him in the eyes. Mr. O’Brien chuckled. 

“Don’t worry about it. This happens every so often, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last to set off a wave of ‘reply all’. Eventually people will get bored of it, don’t you worry.” He assured. She nodded, feeling a tiny bit better. 

“Hey.” Ziyal entered her mom’s office after school. “What’d you want to show me?” 

“I want to take you somewhere when I’m done with work, I just didn’t want you getting on the bus and making me go home and get you.” 

“Where are we going?” 

“It’s a surprise.” Her mom grinned. 

“Okay. I’m gonna go do homework in the library, I’ll be back after the late bus.” 

“See you then.” 

“So where are we going?” Ziyal asked as her mom pulled out of the parking lot. 

“I told you, it’s a surprise.” Nerys grinned. Ziyal shrugged and pulled out her phone. Eventually they parked and Ziyal followed her mom into a building labelled ‘Rage Rooms’. Ziyal looked at her mom, confused. “When I was your age, and sometimes now to be honest, I’d get really  _ really _ mad, and just want to hit something. Now that I’m older I know things to do besides hit stuff when I’m mad, but I thought maybe this would help you get out some feelings from school.” Her mom explained. Ziyal glanced at a TV in the lobby showing clips of people hitting stuff like TVs and plates with baseball bats and crowbars. She shrugged, it was worth a shot. Nerys paid and an employee helped Ziyal find a helmet and safety goggles that fit. “Did you want me to come in with you, or stay out here?” Her mom asked. 

“Probably stay out here?” 

“Okay, have fun.” Her mom smiled and sat in a waiting room chair. The employee led Ziyal back to a room a little smaller than her bedroom, with plates and cups and an old printer on a table, and stuff to hit them with in a corner. 

“Okay kiddo, no hitting the walls, door, table, or the security camera, you have 20 minutes, have fun.” The worker left and shut the door. 

Ziyal grabbed the baseball bat and swung it a few times. She picked up a teacup and tossed it in the air. The point was to break stuff. She tossed the teacup up and hit it with the bat, it shattered. She giggled. After breaking all the cups she climbed up on the table and threw the plates on the ground. She threw the printer down as well, as hard as she could, and it hit the concrete floor with a satisfying crack. She grabbed the crowbar and started smashing the printer and ripping it apart. Ziyal looked up at a knock on the door, and the same employee as before opened it. 

“Time’s up, kiddo.” Ziyal put the crowbar on the table, and took off her helmet and goggles as they went back to the waiting room. 

“Feel better?” Nerys asked with a smile. 

“Yeah.” Ziyal grinned. 

“Want to buy the video?” 

“No.” Ziyal shook her head emphatically, her mom laughed. 

“Then we’re done, let’s go home.” Nerys wrapped an arm around Ziyal’s shoulders as they walked to the car. “This can’t be an all-the-time thing, but I’m glad it helped.” 

“Thanks.” Ziyal squeezed her mom’s hand. She didn’t feel like she needed to break stuff when she went in, but it did help her feel better. 

On Tuesday even more kids ‘replied all’ to the announcement email with ‘cool, thanks’, Ziyal scowled as she deleted them. She tried to comfort herself with the thought that either they’d stop thinking it was funny eventually, or Counselor Tigan would admit she was right and buy her lunch. That wasn’t for months though. She hoped they’d stop finding it funny soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working on Chapter 8 AND talking with a sensitivity reader, so next week will probably not have a chapter.


End file.
